Everything you need to know about Apple AirTags

The holiday season means travel for many people, traveling means keeping track of all sorts of things — luggage, keys, sunglasses, camera bags and more. The best way to do this and not lose your mind is to include Apple AirTags in everything you need to carry. Tiny Bluetooth trackers are essential all year round, but this is when they prove their worth. (And they’re great too stocking stuffers.)

I already use Apple’s Find Me service to track devices, such as the iPad I often leave in my living room, as well as family members’ whereabouts through their iPhones.

But what if I want to specify my keys exactly? Or understand did my luggage arrive on the same flight like me? Because of this, I’ve come to rely on a few Apple AirTags that fit in or on just about anything I want to track. Apple’s tracker depends on the Find Me network to help you pinpoint your items, from keys you’ve lost at home to a bag you might have left at the office.

Here’s everything you want to know about AirTags. For more, find out about why you shouldn’t put an AirTag on a pet and discover five unexpected places to hide the AirTag.

What is Apple AirTag?

AirTag is a single tracking device that securely broadcasts its location using a Bluetooth wireless network. It’s a small shiny white puck not much bigger than a US quarter and about three stacked coins tall. A CR2032 coin cell battery keeps the AirTag powered for approximately one year.

Once the AirTag is paired with your iPhone or iPad, you can basically forget about it. Hang it on your key ring or put it in your bag — anything you want to be able to track or find later.

How much do AirTags cost and where can I buy them?

One AirTag sells for $29 directly from Appleand can be purchased for about $24 at most electronics stores.

However, it’s always more economical to buy an AirTag in a pack of four — once you find a use for a lone AirTag, you’ll soon be thinking of other things you want to track. Apple sells the set for $99 and some retailers, such as Amazon, Best Buy and Walmartget them for around $75, bringing the cost per item down to under $20. AirTags are also often discounted for big sales like Black Friday and Prime Day.

If you order from Apple, you can engrave initials, numbers, and emoticons for free, which can help differentiate your AirTags (or just add a personal twist).

Is it difficult to set up a new AirTag?

In typical Apple fashion, activating the new AirTag is easy. Initially, a plastic tab sandwiched between the electronics and the battery keeps the AirTag inert. When you pull that tab and the parts make contact, the AirTag starts broadcasting its presence. When you bring it close to your iPhone or iPad, a dialog box appears giving you the option to connect the AirTag.

When you tap Connectchoose a description to associate the tag with, such as “Hand Bag” or “Luggage”; you can also enter a custom name. Select the emoji that will represent the AirTag in the Find Me app and tap Continue. AirTag is linked to your Apple ID.

How do I find an AirTag?

In the Find Me app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, tap Subjects button to see the AirTags you’ve activated. On Apple Watch, open Find Items app.

Tap the item you want to find. If you think it’s close, an easy option is to tap Play the sound button, causing the AirTag to emit a high-pitched sound. However, if you have an iPhone 11 or later (not including the iPhone SE), tap Find uses the iPhone’s Ultra Wideband (UVB) chip to locate the AirTag with greater precision—not only estimating distance, such as “1.5 feet nearby,” but also pointing you in the right direction as you move.

If the item is not in your general vicinity, Find the button becomes a Instructions button that will submit the location to the Maps application for driving, walking, public transport or cycling routes.

What if I forget things while leaving?

Being able to find something I lost is priceless, but it would have been better if I hadn’t forgotten it in the first place. For each AirTag you can enable Notify when left behindoption that sends a notification if you and the AirTag that was with you are no longer together.

It could be as simple as forgetting a bag at a restaurant or – more alarmingly – if someone grabbed an item and ran away.

What’s the secret to how AirTags work?

You know how in many thrillers and spy movies someone places a tracker on a person and can then pinpoint the target’s location no matter where they are? That always seemed far-fetched to me – what range would a small piece of electronics have, really? – but AirTag is basically that.

AirTag also doesn’t have that range, but it has something better: the millions of devices carried by Apple customers surrounding it. At a regular interval, the AirTag sends a low-power Bluetooth signal containing an encrypted ID. Any nearby iPhone, iPad, or Mac picks up the signal, adds its location coordinates (if it knows them), and sends it to Apple’s servers in a secure transmission in the background.

So when my luggage decided to spend an extra day in Europe without me, I knew it was still at the airport in France. It’s likely that an iPhone owned by a passenger or employee picked up the AirTag ID in my bag and relayed it to Apple. When I opened the Find Me app on my iPhone in Seattle, it polled the servers and presented the AirTag’s last known location.

All of this happens in the background — no personal data is sent, and the impact on device performance and battery life is negligible.

What about privacy? Can a hidden AirTag track me?

Just as you can use an AirTag to track your personal items, it’s possible that someone could drop an AirTag into your bag or coat pocket to try to track your movements. Apple has put several safeguards in place to try to prevent this type of situation.

If your iPhone or iPad detects an unknown AirTag near you that is persistently near you, a notification appears that says “AirTag Found Moving With You.” When you’ve searched through your stuff and found it, open the Find Me app on your iPhone or iPad, tap Subjects and then tap Identify the found item. Place the AirTag on the back of the device at the top until you see a notification. When you tap that, you’ll be redirected to a webpage with the tag’s serial number and, optionally, contact information.

If it turns out that a family member’s AirTag has fallen out of their bag, no worries. If it is unknown, you can follow the instructions to disable the tag.

For more, see how protect yourself from tracking.

What if I suspect my AirTag has been stolen?

You searched everywhere, you used Find scanning function, but your item containing the AirTag is nowhere to be found. What now?

In the AirTag details in the Find Me app, scroll down to Lost AirTag and tap Show contact information. If someone finds a tag and verifies it as described above, you can have a phone number or email displayed, as well as an optional message, when they search for information about it.

Another option is to choose Share the location of the itemwhich creates a link that you can send to someone who identifies where the tag is. The link has only been active for a week, which is hopefully more than enough time to let someone find it. For example, suppose your bag is swiped: you can give the shared link to the police so they can find it. (For safety reasons, do not confront someone who has stolen your property.)

When the item and its AirTag are returned, a notification appears that you have been reunited. Or, you can hide the bookmark location at any time with a tap Stop sharing an item’s location on the same screen, which invalidates the shared link.

How can I share an AirTag with someone I trust?

The AirTag is linked to your Apple account, but for years that’s been a problem: AirTags assigned to other people in my household would trigger an “AirTag found moving with you” alert — not great on family trips when we’d be taking the wife’s car.

Now, thankfully, it’s possible to share AirTag’s location with up to five people. Tap the icon in the Find Me app and below Share AirTag tap Add a person. Touch it Continue on the screen explaining what will happen, then select a contact and tap Share.

In the Find Me app, that person can accept a shared item. Note that any people you add can follow the location.

How long does the battery last and how do I replace it?

In my experience, the CR2032 coin battery in each AirTag lasts about a year. When the level drops below about 10% remaining, you will be warned that the battery is low and a red indicator will appear in the Find Mi app.

To replace the battery, turn the silver back counter-clockwise to release its latches. Lift the existing battery and replace it with the new one, making sure the battery identification marks are facing you. Then align the tabs of the metal part with the slots on the plastic piece, gently press and turn clockwise. The AirTag will chirp when the electronics and battery are in secure contact.

Can I use AirTags with an Android phone?

AirTags aren’t directly compatible with Android phones – there’s no app that connects to Apple’s Find Mi network. To get the same tracking feature, check out Chipolo One Point a tracker that uses Google’s Find My Device network.

Apple once offered an Android app called Tracker Detect that would let you identify a found AirTag, but that’s not available for newer Android devices — the Google Play Store app with that name is from a different developer. However, for phones with NFC chips installed, you can place the found AirTag on the back of the device to see information about it.

For more, learn more about this year’s the best AirTag accessories and everything about it Apple Intelligence.